Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate announced for the 3DS, will release in early 2015

Monster Hunter 4 is getting localized for the 3DS platform, but will release only in early 2015. Series producer Ryozo Tsujimoto said in a video yesterday that fans will be able to “expect the biggest leap forward ever for the series”.

The 3DS version of Monster Hunter 4 is less a port and more of an improved game, and will be called Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate. It is the equivalent of Monster Hunter 4 G now in development in Japan, and will of course be developed for the English-speaking market.

Tsujimoto said that the team wanted to maintain well loved features of the game, but also really wanted to “evole the series in a new direction” in order to both appeal to existing players and attract new ones.

The YouTube video shows gameplay footage where the player character is climbing up vines. Tsujimoto elaborates on the change (or improvement?), saying there will be more vertical and lateral moment meant to “create more fluid and dynamic hunting experiences.” There will also be more multiplayer options, one of them being online play.

The video then ends with Tsujimoto asking fans to keep tabs on the Monster Hunter social media channels, like their Facebook page and Capcom Unity. With Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate first developed for the Wii, it seemed likely that Monster Hunter 4 would have followed in its footsteps and appear on the Wii U first.

Thankfully Nintendo seems to have both realized the limitations of their newest console and the route the gaming world has been taking: the mobile one. Here’s to a good year of monster hunting in 2015!